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| Timothy Hall, WLB, Oklahoma |
Houston QB Mario Valencia had perhaps the worst day of his storied career. He finished with a QBR of 20.45, being picked off four times and completing just 17 of 44 pass attempts. Oklahoma WLB Timothy Hall had two of those interceptions and DT Andrew Wu recorded three sacks. Outlaws RB Patrick Hiebert had a rushing TD and a receiving TD. Three of Oklahoma's five scoring drives began inside the Houston 40.
The Gamblers (8-1) were looking to tie last year's franchise record for victories in a season. Oklahoma (3-6), after a 1-6 start, has back-to-back wins over playoff contenders Houston and the Chicago Blitz.
In other Week 9 games:
- The Southern California Sun trailed Charlotte, 20-10, with 5:34 to play, but rallied to beat the Hornets, 27-20, and earn their first victory of the season. Two interceptions by the SoCal defense led to the last 10 points. The Sun were the league's last winless team.
- The Honolulu Hawaiians took a two-game lead in the Pacific Division by edging Los Angeles, 16-15, the fourth consecutive loss for the Express. Los Angeles drove from its 18 to the Honolulu 41 with 1:23 to play, but a fourth-down pass was knocked down by Honolulu's Eugene Holland and the Hawaiians ran out the clock.
- The Michigan Panthers have a two-game lead in the Midwest Division after Cleveland and Chicago both lost. The Panthers took care of business with a 10-7 win over the Georgia Force on John Bibler's 26-yard field goal with 2:45 to play.
- Shreveport RB Nolan Ring had 56 yards rushing and 132 receiving and James Hooper kicked a 55-yard field goal on the game's final play as the Steamer edged the Chicago Blitz, 16-13. Shreveport had lost five of its previous six.
- Tampa Bay rookie SS Clifford Swank was credited with 11 tackles during a 21-12 win over the Florida Blazers that vaulted the Bandits over .500 at 5-4.
- The Birmingham Stallions scored 17 unanswered points in the final 7 minutes to pull away from the Pittsburgh Maulers, 34-17. QB Nolan Loos tossed four TD passes. Birmingham rookie TE Mario Burton has 46 receptions and five TDs on the season
- Baltimore SS David Dangerfield made 13 tackles and intercepted two passes during a 13-7 win over the San Jose SaberCats.
- Memphis and Portland combined for 35 points in the fourth quarter before the Storm finally prevailed, 27-24. The teams combined for nine interceptions, two by veteran Storm CB John Borkowski. Memphis WR Jerome Betancourt had four catches for 154 yards (38.5 per catch), including TDs of 63 and 69 yards, and is averaging 23.4 yards on his 37 receptions this season.
Week 10 Preview
The Washington Federals (7-2) will try to defend their Atlantic Division lead over the second-place Pittsburgh Maulers (6-3). The Michigan Panthers (7-2) host the Chicago Blitz (5-4) in a big Midwest Division game. The Cleveland Thunderbolts (5-4) at the Birmingham Stallions (5-4) looks interesting and may have postseason implications for both.Record Book
- Baltimore QB Fred Murphy, who completed 71 percent of his passes last year and had a 98.44 QBR, has completed 47 percent this season for a 41.93 QBR. Murphy, Oklahoma's Gene Nowlin and Portland's Oscar Willis are tied for the league lead in interceptions (19).
- Birmingham CB Kelly Acosta has intercepted 10 passes this season. The USFL/WFL single-season record is 13, set by Pittsburgh's Bradley Martinez in 1978.
- Memphis RB Douglas Donald tied a league record with four rushing TDs against Oklahoma earlier this season. Six players have scored four rushing TDs in a game (Pittsburgh's John Murray twice).
